First, sorry

12 April 2017 By Rob Cox Follow @rob1cox

It’s a sad affair when an airline reliant on consumer loyalty can be so wholly upstaged in the contrition department by White House flack Sean Spicer. United’s ham-fisted response to “re-accommodate-gate” is a warning to all corporations: Say sorry first, ask questions later.

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United Airlines will no longer use law-enforcement officers to remove passengers from overbooked flights after global outrage erupted over a video showing a passenger dragged from one of its planes in Chicago, Chief Executive Oscar Munoz told ABC News on April 12.

"We're not going to put a law-enforcement official ... to remove a booked, paid, seated passenger," Munoz said. "We can't do that."

Munoz said the incident resulted from a "system failure" that prevented employees from using "common sense" in the situation and that David Dao, whom security officers pulled by his hands from the cabin before takeoff, was not at fault.

In the ABC interview, Munoz apologized profusely to Dao, his family, passengers and United customers. "This can never, will never happen again," he said.

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